Doing good in periods of political turnover: the turnover of local officials, local corruption and corporate social responsibility

This study analyzes the relationship between the turnover of local officials and corporate social responsibility with the moderating role of the local corruption under the Chinese context. Using merged data from 2357 Chinese listed firms operated in 219 cities over the time period 2010 to 2018, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is deconstructed and re-estimated into optimal CSR and excessive CSR. It is found that city-level political turnover positively affects both types of CSR. Local corruption mitigates the positive political turnover-optimal CSR relationship while exerting no significant effect on the political turnover-excessive CSR relationship. These findings remain valid in various robustness settings. Our findings have important implications for practitioners and policymakers in understanding corporate policy making in an emerging market.